Friday 24 April 2009

Achouri: Bellemare Committed to April 27th Deadline


Achouri: Bellemare Committed to April 27th Deadline
Batoul Wehbe Readers Number : 21

24/04/2009 The Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s (STL) General Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare's spokeswoman Radiya Ashouri told Al-Manar TV that Bellemare did not ask Pre-trial Judge Daniel Francine to extend the April 27th time limit regarding the fate of the four Lebanese officers.

A well-informed source told Al-Nashra internet website that the four officers will be released before or after two days (maximum) from the April 27th deadline.

Earlier on Friday, Ashouri told As Safir daily that Bellemare would submit his petition “on Monday 27 and not earlier than the specified date” regarding his decision on the four officers, who were arrested on suspect of involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and have been held in custody since 2005 without charges.

She added that Bellemare and Francine held the sole authority to make the final decision on the four officers’ case.

Francine has issued a ruling asking Daniel Bellemare to "either justify the need to keep the prisoners in Lebanon in custody or to order their release” by April 27.

The four officers are Jamil Sayyed, Ali Hajj, Raymond Azar and Mustafa Hamdan who respectively headed the General Security Department, the Internal Security Forces, Military Intelligence and the Presidential Guards Brigade.

The president of the STL, Italian judge Antonio Cassisi, ordered the Lebanese authorities to end the solitary confinement of the four officers and allow them to meet each other for two hours daily without eavesdropping on their meetings. But the Lebanese authorities haven’t met this rule yet.
“Four officers are not accused, we should decide on their fate during two weeks or maximum three weeks,” Cassisi told Lebanese and Arab newspapers.

Cassisi justified the officers’ detention since 2005 without a legal instrument saying “if we ordered their release and then the general prosecutor decided to arrest them they might escape. The prosecutor general should review the files quickly.”

“No legal conclusions on releasing one of the suspects should be made,” Cassisi's deputy, Lebanese judge Ralph Riyashi said. But Riyashi hasn’t said anything new since what he said was a classical legal expression. In every judicial proceeding, “to arrest” doesn’t mean indictment and “to release” doesn’t mean innocence. The rule is that a person is innocent until proven guilty.

However, Cassisi said that Bellemare didn’t request from Francine to issue an arrest warrant against Mohammad Zuhair al-Siddiq, a Syrian national who was the lead witness in the investigation into the assassination of Hariri. Cassisi indicated that the general prosecutor wasn’t interested in Siddiq’s case and probably he settle for the Syrian authorities to arrest him.

Media reports have said that Siddiq was arrested in the UAE’s Sharjah Emirate. Jamil Sayyed wondered why some political and media circles ignored Siddiq’s arrest when on the other hand he was a “national hero” for the Future Movement and was used falsely to arrest the officers.

Well-informed sources told Al-Manar TV that Bellemare completed reviewing about 95% of the files and he’s most likely to adhere to the deadline.

Earlier this month, Lebanon's investigative judge Sakr Sakr lifted arrest warrants for the officers, and they will be released if not charged, though they are expected to remain in custody until Bellemare delivers his recommendation. According to Cassisse, Bellemare's decision will be made public between April 27 and May 4.

No comments: